Refrigerator.



W. N. AMSBARY.

BBFRIGERATOR.

APPLIUATION rILED rms. ze, 1910.

' Patented Apr.18,1911.

2 SHEETS-sum1* 1.

W. N. AMSBARY.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED PEB. ze, 1010.

990,182. Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

2 SHEETS--SHBBT 2.

r '4u '11 I I I s wa 44 (Till v3 u l'ot WILLIAM N. AMSBARY, F DENVER.COLORADO.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. ,18. 1911.

Application tiled 'February 26, 1910. Serial No. 546.241.

To all whom 'it 'may concer-n Be it known that I, YVILLTAM N. usaxuv, acitizen of the. United States. residing in the city and county of Denverand State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Refrigerators; and

. I do declare the following to be a full.

clear. and exact description of the inventionrsuch as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same`reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters andfigures ofl'eferenee marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in refrigerators in which thecooling function is performed entirely on the principle of evaporation.In other uwords. in my improved construction the use of ice isunnecessary. For this reason the device may be termed an icelessrefrigerator.

In the upper part of the casing above the cooling chamber is located atank or receptacle which is open at the top and equipped with a numberof flexible cloths consisting of cloth or other absorbent materialadapted to take up water by capillary attraction from the vessel ortank, and cause it to pass upwardly over the edge of the tank and thendownwardly. In this construction the lower extremities of these clothsmay rest upon the upper portion -of the cooling chamber, the portions ofthe latter exposed to the water being covered with a thin layer ofabsorbent material, whereby the water delivered to the, absorbentcovering of the cooling chamber will readily distribute itself thereoverin a. thin layer or sheet causing itto readily evaporate, under theiniuenee of a rising current. of warm air, which is constantly passing`through the refrigerator outside of the cooling chamber. This warm aircurrent enters att-he bottom of the apparatus and passes outat the top.Asv illustrated in the drawing, the inlet for the Warm air at the bottomVof the refrigerator is centrally located but the bottom of the coolingchamber is provided with a layer of packing material whereby the coolingchamber is insulated from the influence of the warm air entering at thebottom of the refrigerator, as heretofore explained.

Having'briefly outlined my improved eonstruction, I will proceed todescribe the same in 4detail. reference being made to thel accompanyingdrawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is a central vertical section taken throughthe refrigerator from top to bottom or on the line 1--1, Fig. 3. Fig. Qis an enlarged sectional view in detail illustratingl the tank orreceptacle containing the necessary water which is drawn out bycapillary attraction, as heretofore explained. Fig. 3 is a section oftheapparatus taken at right angles to-Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection taken on the line 4 4.

Fig. 3.

The same reference characters indicate the saine parts in all the views.

het the numeral 5 'designate the outer casing of the refrigerator. whichis provided with the usual metallining 6 and a suitable packing Tinterposed between the said lining and the outer or wood portion S ofthe device.

lithin the main casing of the refrigerator is the auxiliary casing 9inclosing the cooling chamber 10.l This auxiliary easing is equippedexteriorly with a relatively thin absorbent covering 12 adapted'toreceive wa-y ter :from a tank 13 from the edge of which is hung a numberof cloths 14 whose inner extremities dip into the water 15 of the tankand whose outer extremities extend downwardly below the bottom of thetank. These lower extremities of the cloths 14. preferably come indirect contact with the absorbent covering 12 of the cooling chamber. Itwill be understood that in the use of my improved refrigerator, -thewater follows the cloths by capillary attraction, up over the cdgcof thetank and thence downwardly to the lower extremities of the cloths, wherethe water passes to the absorbent covering of the cooling chamber, thusmaking the conditions exceedingly favorable for evaporation.

T he bottom of the casing is provided with an air inlet pipe 16 whoselower portion pro-4 trudes below the, bottom of the refrigerator, andmay extend through the Hoor 27 of the room and communicate with thebasement. To the lower end of the pipe section 16 is detachablyconnected a sortof drip cup 17 to whose lower extremity is secured aconeshaped member 18 ,adapted to receive the drip resulting from apossible excessive supply of water by the cloths to the absorbentvcovering of the cooling chamber. This detachable section 17 is providedwith relatively large openings 19 to allow the a1r to enter freely andpass upwardly through the pipe section 1G, thence into the chamber 37,

the cooling chamber whereby admirable conditions are obtained forevaporating purposes. The water which passes oft in vapor, mingles withthe rising current of 'air and is removed therewith.

Set into the top'of the tank 13. and overlapping the upper edge of thelatter is a sort of shield 24 which protects the cloths 13 and preventsany dirt or foreign particles of matter from coming in contact with thecloths. In order to maintain the cloths in 4their best condition or attheir maximum water carrying capacity, they should be kept perfectlyclean and free from material which might have a tendency to clog thepores and thus-impede the passage of the water therethrough by capillaryattraction. rlhis shield aHords a thorough proteetioI-l to the saidcloths and also conceals the same from view when the top of therefrigerator is open.

As shown in the drawing, the drip cup member 17 is connected with thelower extremity of the inlet pipe 16 by a set screw 25. Whenever thedrip cup or cone-shaped rcceptacle 1S becomes filled, the member 17 maybe quickly detached and the water emptied. In the event, it should bediscovered that too much water 1s escaping from-the refrigerator, one ormore of the cloths may be removed, to prevent any surplus discharge ofthe water from the tank. In this specificatlon the term surplus isintended to mean,

vthe removal from the tank of a greater quantity of -water than .can beformed into vapor or evaporated through the influence of the upwardlyytraveling current of relatively warm air from thel bottom of therefrigerator, as heretofore explained.

The metallic lining 6 of the refrigerator 1s provided with outwardlyfiared ears 26 which are arranged to guide the pan 13 into posltion onthe top of the auxiliary casing, and to prevent the same from-lateraldisplacement.

It will be evident that my improved construction, whereby cloths areemployed for transferring the water in carefully regulated quantitiesfrom the tank to the absorbentcovering of the cooling chamber, is -animportant feature, by virtue of the 'ease and facility with which thenumber of these.

cloths may be regulated. lt is evident that4 if too little water isbeing removed, one or more additional clot-hs may be put in place; whileif too lunch water is removed as disclosed by an excess of discharge atthe bot:- tm of the refrigerator, one or more cloths may be removed.thus diminishing the re- `moval of the water from the tank to the outerabsorbent. covering of the cooling chamber. y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A refrigerator depending upon the principle of eva-poration for theperformance of its cooling function, comprising an ext-erior'casing, anauxiliary casing inclosing a cooling chamber, a water receptacle in theupper partI of the casing above the cooling chamber, cloths applied tothe said receptacle and having one extremity entering the water of thetank, the said cloths passing upwardly over the edge of the tank andthence downwardly below the bottom thereof, whereby the drip from thecloths falls upon the exterior surface ofthe cooling chamber, and ashield extending over the edge of the receptacle and covering theportion of the cloths extending into the receptacle for the purpose setforth.

2. A refrigerator having a cooling chamber. a water receptacle locatedabove the cooling chamber, flexible cloths'applied to the waterreceptacle and hanging downwardly from the edge of the latter. oneextremity of each cloth entering the water, while the opposite extremityprojects below `the bottom of the tank and engages the exterior surfaceof the cooling chamber,"and a shieldextending over the edge of the waterreceptacle and covering the extremities of the cloths entering thereceptacle, for the purpose set forth. y y

3. A refrigerator having an outer casing, an inner casing, the twocasings being separated by a suitable space, the outer casing having anair inlet at its lower portion and an outlet at its upper portion forthe passage current of air from the bottom of the device.

upwardly therethrough between the twq casings, the 4outer casing havingan outlet for the air at its upper extremity, a water receptacle locatedin the upper part .of the device, and means for 'removing water fromsaid receptacle and discharging it upon the outer surface of the innercasing by capillary attraction, and a shield extending over the edge ofthe receptacle and protruding downwardly thereinto for protecting thewaterremoving means, substantially as described.

5. A refrigerator having an exterior casing, an interior casing, the twocasings being separated by-a suitable space, the interior casing beingcovered with an exterior layer of absorbent material, means for passinga current of air through the space between the two casings from thelower part of the dcviee upwardly, a water receptacle. located in theupper part of the refrigerator, a shield covering the edge of thereceptacle and extendingr downwardly thereinto, and means positionedbetween the shield and the edge of the receptacle for discharging waterfrom the water receptacle to the exterior absorbent covering of theinner casing by capillary attraction, for the purpose set forth..

.6. A refrigerator comprising an outer casing, an inner casing mclosinga cooling chamber, the two casings being Iseparated by a suitable space,a warm air inlet conduit at the bottom of the outer casing projectingdownwardly therefrom, a drip cup detaclr ably connected with said inletconduit, the said cup having openings for the entrance of the air to theconduit above its bottomand the normal level of the liquid containedtherein, and an outlet for the said air at the upper portion of theouter casing. 4

7. A refrigerator, comprising an outer casing, an inner casing,inclosing a cooling chamber, the two casings being separated by vasuitable space, means for passing a current of air from the bottom ofthe ,outer casing through the space between the two casings anddischarging it at the top of the outer casing, a water receptaclelocated above the cooling chamber, means supported upon the upper edgeof the water receptacle for removing water from the latter by capillaryattraction and discharging itupon the exterior surface of the coolingchamber, and a shield extending over the edge of the water receptacleand projecting downwardly thereinto, for the purpose set forth.

8. A refrigerator having an interior-ly located casing inclosing acooling chamber, a water receptacle located above the said casing, meansfor discharging'water from the receptacle to the exterior surface of thecooling chamber by capillary attraction and a shield extending over theedge of the recep lacle and protruding downwardlythereinto 'forprotecting the water discharge means, substantially as described.

1n testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM N. AMSBARY.

lVitnesses NATHAN L. ALnrmsoN', A. EBERT OBmnN.

